21st Century Skills, Technology and the K-4 Classroom
Created by ESU#3 for Training Resources
Session Content: This fast paced session will take 21st Century Skills to the next level--moving beyond knowledge of the skills to activities and resources that you can use in your classroom. Below are links to the ideas and tools shared that foster 21st century learning into the reading and writing curriculum.
21st Century Language Arts Links & Resources:
http://www.storylineonline.net/
Storyline Online:http://www.storylineonline.net/ Storyline Online is a streaming video site where members from the Screen Actor Guild read noted children's stories aloud. Each story is accompanied by activities and lesson ideas. Providing a multimedia experience for the children to participate in literature and see and hear the pages come alive with the voices of the trained actors is one that your students will enjoy. This site is worth a look if you have not seen it before. A few books are added periodically. At this writing, the featured book was the Polar Express (December 2010)
21st Century Skill: Communication
Curriculum Areas: reading and activities that support reading
VocabGrabber:http://www.visualthesaurus.com/vocabgrabber/
VocabGrabber allows the user/student to copy and paste text into an area on the screen and then sort the words by curricular area, frequency, familiarity, etc. Words can be selected from the sorted list for use with virtual thesaurus to look for synonyms and build meaning. Noted researcher, Robert Marzano emphasizes the importance of working with words, building student meaning and exploring words as steps in the development of reading vocabulary. This site is one you will want to put on your "radar."
21st Century Skill: Communication
Best Practice: Marzano's Similarities and Differences, vocabulary development (steps 2, 4 & 5)
Curriculum Areas: writing word choice, reading vocabulary development
Word Cloud Creators: A unique way to look at words, vocabulary, word choice, content in text passages, etc is using a word cloud. A number of free tools are available to create a word cloud or word cluster using text that is either typed or copied and pasted to input at a web site for a word cloud/cluster. All of these tools would address the following:
21st Century Skill: Communication, Creativity & Innovation
Best Practice: Marzano--homework & practice, graphic representation
Curriculum Areas: writing word choice, reading vocabulary development
Here are a few of the more popular ones:
Wordle:www.wordle.net Wordle is a word cloud generator. The more times that the word is included in the text, the larger it becomes in the word cloud that is created. Teachers have copied and pasted student text into Wordle to spotlight the frequently used words, they have also used Wordle as a tool to create a visual thesaurus of synonyms.
Word It Out:http://worditout.com/ A very simple word cloud/word cluster creator. Some may prefer this simple tool to illustrate a word through the use of like words, definitions, etc.
Image Chef--Word Mosaic:http://www.imagechef.com/ic/word_mosaic/ Rather than creating a word cloud--this tool creates a word cluster that can be put into a corresponding shape that fits with the word. Think about using the word/definition/shape to illustrate a word so that students will remember it.
Starfall:http://www.starfall.com/
Starfall is a primary age web site for emerging readers and writers. Students get practice reading words and many games and activities related to reading and writing are available at this site. If this site hasn't been on your "radar" before and you are a primary K-1 teacher, you will want to take note of this site.
21st Century Skill: Communication and Creativity
Best Practice: Marzano's vocabulary development Step 6--learning games and Step 4--activities that engage
Curriculum Areas: reading fluency and vocabulary development, writing practice
Free Web 2.0 Tools for Writing Instruction that Address the 21st Century Skills of Communication, Collaboration & Creativity:
World Sift:http://www.wordsift.com/ Word Sift combines creating word clouds with a visual thesaurus and image generation.
Big Huge Labs:http://www.bighugelabs.com/ At this site students (and you too!) can create a movie poster (think about a book poster for a great book students have read!), a motivational poster, etc. Check out "The Writer" link!
BubblUs: http://bubbl.us/ On-line brainstorming and graphic organizer
Story Book Jumper:http://www.storyjumper.com/ Create a book on-line that can be viewed, printed or ordered by parents.
21st Century Skills, Technology and the K-4 Classroom
Created by ESU#3 for Training ResourcesSession Content: This fast paced session will take 21st Century Skills to the next level--moving beyond knowledge of the skills to activities and resources that you can use in your classroom. Below are links to the ideas and tools shared that foster 21st century learning into the reading and writing curriculum.
21st Century Language Arts Links & Resources:
Storyline Online is a streaming video site where members from the Screen Actor Guild read noted children's stories aloud. Each story is accompanied by activities and lesson ideas. Providing a multimedia experience for the children to participate in literature and see and hear the pages come alive with the voices of the trained actors is one that your students will enjoy. This site is worth a look if you have not seen it before. A few books are added periodically. At this writing, the featured book was the Polar Express (December 2010)
VocabGrabber: http://www.visualthesaurus.com/vocabgrabber/
VocabGrabber allows the user/student to copy and paste text into an area on the screen and then sort the words by curricular area, frequency, familiarity, etc. Words can be selected from the sorted list for use with virtual thesaurus to look for synonyms and build meaning. Noted researcher, Robert Marzano emphasizes the importance of working with words,
Here are a few of the more popular ones:
Starfall: http://www.starfall.com/
Starfall is a primary age web site for emerging readers and writers. Students get practice reading words and many games and activities related to reading and writing are available at this site. If this site hasn't been on your "radar" before and you are a primary K-1 teacher, you will want to take note of this site.
Free Web 2.0 Tools for Writing Instruction that Address the 21st Century Skills of Communication, Collaboration & Creativity:
Examples of Using Powerpoint for Books:
MS Word Examples:
Some of My Favorite Writing Sites